On 20th July a group of cyclists will be departing University Hospital Southampton (UHS) to ride around the borders of the county. This is some 300 miles and we are attempting to cover the distance two ways. The A Team will be riding approximately 150 miles PER DAY, returning back to UHS on Sunday 21st July. The B Team will be a none-the-less committed team of riders who will be cycling on static bikes in the spin room at Alton Everyone Active on the Saturday covering a minimum distance of 300 miles collaboratively. We start this challenge at 10.30 and have a spin instructor ready to motivate us.

THE WHY

As many of you will have seen, Surgeons at the Edge of Life (BBC 2, Wednesday) is currently showcasing the brilliant work of the surgeons and their teams from UHS in trying to save lives, better life limiting conditions and improve the outlook for patients in our region. UHS is at the cutting edge of cancer treatment and, as we all know, cancer will affect one in two of us in our lifetime, so it is imperative that we find cures and work arounds for this insidious unwelcome visitor in all too many lives.

The Cancer Immunology Fund supports life saving research at the Centre for Cancer Immunology at the University of Southampton. The donations raised on this page will help push the boundaries of cancer research and drive forward new, life saving immunology treatments specifically for cancer of the oesophagus.

Since 2018, extraordinary gains have been made by this research group including the development of a revolutionary DNA cancer vaccine to encourage the immune system to recognise cancer. New ways to identify patients that are twice as likely to die from lung cancer have also been developed and a clinical trial has been launched to test new immunotherapy treatments for bladder cancer.

The team are working hard to bring these improvements to patients with cancer of the oesophagus, where current treatment regimes are often ineffective. Professor Underwood’s research team has discovered how cells in the tumour microenvironment prevent immune cells from finding and destroying cancer and how this might be overcome. Additionally they have identified a very rare type of cancer cell that remains after treatment in some patients and may be responsible for the cancer returning. Currently 70% of treated patients may have recurring cancer within two years. The next phase of the research will be working out how to unleash the immune system to find and destroy these cells and your donation will help pump prime this.

We need to fast track these amazing discoveries and your donation will help promote this, ensuring oesophageal patients around the world can get the immunotherapy treatments they urgently need.

Please support us however you can – there are various options:-

1) By donating a sum of money – we are very grateful for this.

2) By joining in – you can join either team. Team A will be led by Professor Underwood and a team of cyclists from UHS. Team B will be progressing at a more stately pace and in the relative comfort of being indoors.

THE COST

At the heart of this is, of course, fund raising. Please raise as much money as you can and send this link out. All donations must be gifted through this JustGiving page (and don’t forget to tick the Gift Aid box if eligible)

We appreciate there is a cost of living crisis but we are very grateful for your donation – you really are making a difference.